


are we written in the stars

by y02mustang



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Central City, Established Sanvers, F/F, Marriage Proposal, Multiverse, SuperCorp, Supercorp all the way, basically i have no idea what i'm talking about but you know, kind of dialogue heavy, minor appearance by j'onn j'onnz, minor appearance by maggie sawyer, references to things from the comics and also from the flash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-09 04:53:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13474089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/y02mustang/pseuds/y02mustang
Summary: "Listen, um… this is probably going to sound crazy.”Alex shoves Kara gently onto the sofa and sits beside her. “Okay, give me the crazy.”“There’s going to be a lot of it.”Alex’s frown deepens. “What’s going on?” she repeats.“I don’t belong on this Earth.”----Or, the fic that came about because of the question: What if it wasn't Lionel that died, but Lillian?





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place around the beginning of S3, Lena hasn’t bought Catco yet, but the Daxamite invasion happened, though Kara was not as distraught over Mon-El’s departure. 
> 
> Also, I have no idea how far National City and Central City are supposed to be from each other, just go with me on this.
> 
> This turned angsty in a way I didn’t expect, so… sorry about that? Happy ending though, promise.

Earth-38

Kara tries hard not to be late for things - given her super speed and power of flight, she generally finds it an inexcusable offense, but sometimes she can’t help it. When Supergirl hears an early morning call for help from a pre-dawn surfer with a little too much ambition and not enough caution, she darts out her window and speeds to the ocean, plucking the swimmer from the riptide and depositing him safely on the shore. 

She returns home when he assures her he’s fine, thanks her profusely, and promises to be more careful about identifying the riptide and not surfing alone. 

Though she changes back into her work clothes right away, she glances at her phone to check the time and curses under her breath.

She’s about to be late to work. 

She eyes the balcony, debating flying there, but shakes her head. Alex scolds her enough about using her powers outside of the supersuit. This morning she’s just going to take public transportation and deal with her tardiness, like any other employee.

She closes the door, inserts the key to lock the deadbolt, then turns and takes three steps down the hallway, when the portal appears. 

It’s the same blue vortex she’s used to and she waits, wondering if Barry and Cisco will appear, and realizes she’s fighting a grin at the thought of seeing her friends from Earth-1. 

Nothing happens. 

The whirling portal remains open, much longer than she’s seen it before, even during Barry’s previous attempts to cross the multiverse, and she narrows her eyes. 

What if something’s wrong? What if Barry is requesting her help rather than trying to come for a visit? 

Kara steps through without hesitation. 

* * *

She’s in her hallway again. She looks around, focuses her hearing, even scans the surrounding area with her x-ray vision, but nothing seems out of place. No sounds of a fight, no shouts for help, she doesn’t even hear Barry speeding around nearby. 

All is quiet on a Friday morning. 

She glances back at her front door, still locked, and shrugs. Maybe the portal was faulty. 

Kara heads for Catco. 

She’s definitely going to be late.

*****

The reporter’s den is a frenzy of activity when she arrives. She makes eye contact with a few of her colleagues but they all skirt away and she frowns. 

“Danvers!” Snapper roars. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been texting you all morning!”

Kara pulls her phone from her purse and taps the screen.

No messages.

No notifications of any sort. 

She glances at the status bar. She should have automatically signed in to Catco’s private Wifi network by now, but in the event that was down (which, honestly, might account for the frustration in the room), she usually got at least three bars on this floor, four if she walked out onto the balcony. 

No bars. No Wifi. No connection at all. 

_Weird._

Snapper is fuming.

“Sorry, boss, my phone is having trouble, I guess. What’s up?”

“No, you’re too late. I’ve given the piece to Jamie.”

“Julia?” she suggests.

He ignores the correction. “If you can’t be on call to grab the big stories, you’ll never rise above the petty crime column. Try again Monday, ponytail. Get out of here.”

Kara bites her lip. “I have a crime column?”

“Don’t push it, Danvers. Out!”

She scurries out of the office before she loses the mysterious column she didn’t know she had. 

Kara glances at the CEO’s office as she walks out but James is nowhere in sight. 

She ponders the encounter as the elevator descends to the ground floor. 

_I’ve never had a regular column,_ of that much, she’s sure. _The portal must have worked, then, and this is another Earth._ She looks at her phone again and sighs. _Maybe that’s why this thing isn’t working here._

Whichever Earth she was on, it didn’t seem terrible so far - Snapper knew who she was and she worked at Catco, so that was reassuring, at least. 

The doors slide open and she steps into the lobby. 

She should find Barry and Cisco, but that’s going to be a little more difficult if her phone is useless in this world and, since they hadn’t met her at the portal, they probably weren’t expecting her. 

She scrunches up her face as she thinks. She wants to check on her sister, to find out how Winn and James and Lena are doing, but a part of her worries about running into her counterpart on this Earth. This isn’t time travel but she wants to avoid the awkwardness that would be sure to bring. 

Despite her desire to be cautious, curiosity leads her to the tall L-Corp building. 

“Good morning, Ms. Danvers,” the guards chorus when she walks in, giving her a brief wave. 

Kara smiles. “Good morning!” _Friday must have them in a good mood._ The security guards have never been brash with her but they’ve certainly never been this warm. 

They give her a strange look when she signs in, but motion her through the metal detector and then wish her a good day as she heads for the elevator. 

Jess glances up at her when she rounds the corner into the foyer just outside Lena’s office. “Good morning, Kara.”

“Morning, Jess!” She smiles widely at the use of her first name. “How are you?”

“I’m well, thank you. She’s free until nine-thirty.”

“Oh, okay.” _She isn’t going to announce me? Maybe she messaged Lena on her tablet._ Despite her full access to the CEO, Jess still normally took the time to open the door and let Lena know she had a visitor. “Thanks!”

She knocks softly, drawing a look from Jess that is eerily similar to the ones from the security team downstairs, and then slips into the room. 

“I didn’t expect to see you until later,” Lena says, but she’s smiling when she meets Kara’s eyes. “Decided you didn’t like the cardigan this morning?”

“Oh, um,” Kara bites her lip, “just wanted to change it up a little, I guess.” _Apparently I’ve already been to see Lena today and I wasn’t supposed to be back until this afternoon. That’s probably why I’ve been getting weird looks._

Lena’s eyes narrow and she stands up from behind her desk. “Kara. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing, it’s…” She sighs, pressing her hand against her forehead, turning on her heel as she begins to pace. “Well, I got a little turned around this morning and my phone doesn’t want to work. Can you pull up the map of Central City?”

Lena taps her tablet a few times and then carries it over. “Here,” she turns so the screen faces Kara, “but that’s quite a ways. Is this for an article? Would you like me to have Samuel drive you?”

“No, that’s fine.” She takes the tablet and scrolls across the map so she can get an idea of how this Earth’s National City and Central City are laid out. She nods, satisfied that it’s similar enough. “I can find what I need. Thanks, Lena.”

The woman shakes her head and kisses Kara’s cheek easily. “You’re quite welcome, darling. Since your phone is having issues today, I’ll remind you now about our dinner reservation. Seven-thirty, Chez Gar, okay?” She takes the tablet when Kara offers it back and the blonde stares when she notices a small diamond ring on the third finger of her left hand. “Don't be late, please.”

“Right, dinner. Yep. Wouldn't miss it.”

Lena wraps an arm around Kara’s waist and kisses her cheek again, lingering this time to whisper, “Relax, sweetheart. Lionel is going to love you, okay?”

Kara takes a startled breath but swallows the yelp. “Okay, sure. I'm, ah, going to get over to Star Labs. But, um, I won't forget about dinner. Promise.” She smiles and clumsily accepts the quick peck on the lips that Lena offers so naturally before they part ways. “Okay. Bye.”

She has to put a lot of concentration into not speeding through the building or taking off into the sky before she’s in an isolated area. 

_Lena is engaged? And I think, she's engaged to me?? I'm supposed to meet her father tonight? Sweet Rao, what is going on in this universe? I have to get home before dinner._

She's deep in thought as she lands in Central City and almost walks right past Star Labs. 

Or at least, what’s supposed to be Star Labs.

It's completely boarded up. The windows have been covered with plywood and there are four large 2x4s nailed across the main entry door. Chain-link fence with a small bit of barbed wire surrounds the building as another attempt to keep people out. The grass is overgrown and weeds shove their way through the asphalt of the parking lot and the concrete approach to the entrance. 

She lowers her glasses and checks the interior, but she sees no sign of movement and it looks completely barren inside. 

Kara sags back and tries to think. What if there's no Barry in this universe? She checks her smartphone but there's still no signal and the wireless won’t connect. She needs to find a phone book to figure out who is on this Earth that might be able to help her. 

As she continues to where she hopes the library is located in this world, she passes a branch of the Central City Bank and the electronic sign out front informs her it’s Friday morning at just past ten o’clock. 

_The date is right,_ she sighs. _At least it looks like this only shifted me in space, not time._

Kara lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding when the library is exactly where she expects it to be. She approaches the front desk and asks if she can use one of their computers to browse the web. The librarian smiles warmly and says she’s more than welcome, and provides her a slip of paper with the login information.

Kara logs in and immediately begins searching.

_Barry Allen - 0 results within 100mi_  
_Cisco Ramon - 0 results within 100mi_  
_Iris West - 0 results within 100mi_  
_Alex Danvers - 1 result within 100mi_

“Oh, thank Rao.” Kara recognizes the address as the one from her own Earth and she feels herself smile at that bit of normalcy, at the thought of seeing her sister. Alex will know what to do.

*****

Alex answers after the third knock. She’s wearing ripped jeans and a thin white t-shirt and Kara is surprised at the casual dress, even late on a Friday morning. 

“Kara?” Alex frowns. “What are you doing here?”

“Um. I just, um, are you busy?”

“Not really, I was just going to go work on my bike.” She opens the door more fully so Kara can come into the apartment. “What’s going on? Why didn’t you call?”

She pulls her phone out of her pocket and tosses it on the kitchen counter. “My phone isn’t working today. Listen, um… this is probably going to sound crazy.”

Alex shoves her gently onto the sofa and sits beside her. “Okay, give me the crazy.”

“There’s going to be a lot of it.”

Alex’s frown deepens. “What’s going on?” she repeats. 

“I don’t belong on this Earth.”

Hands grab at hers fiercely, with enough strength to hurt if she was human. “Kara,” Alex says urgently, “what are you talking about? Did something happen with Lena?”

Kara blinks. “Sort of?”

Her expression softens and she tugs Kara into a hug. “Come here, are you getting cold feet?”

“So you… you _know_.”

“Know what?”

“That Lena and I are, ah, engaged?”

Alex pulls back. “Why are you asking me that like it’s a question? You’ve been engaged for like eight months and you haven’t shut up about it since day one.” She puts a hand on Kara’s forehead. “Were you exposed to Kryptonite? What’s wrong?”

Kara sighs. “I’m Supergirl.” _That will make things easier here._

“... Yeah. Are you… are you trying to say you don’t want to be?” Alex tries to be supportive but the idea that Kara could be considering hanging up her cape concerns her deeply. 

She can hear her sister’s heart rate begin to race and Kara hurries to assure her, “No, not that. I mean, she’s a Luthor.”

“... Again, _yeah_.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

Alex puts her hands out, palms up. “Why would her being obscenely rich bother me?”

“But what about her brother?”

“Lex? What about him?” Alex’s confusion is growing rapidly, trying to keep up with the questions. 

Kara bites her lip. “Do you know where he is?”

“Should I?” She scrunches up her face, thinking. “He’s probably running some CFO meeting or whatever at L-Corp.”

“Wait, he’s not in jail?”

No longer willing to entertain these questions as fanciful, Alex grabs her sister’s shoulder. “Kara. _Stop._ What is this?”

Kara swallows. “Um. Do you, maybe, work for a secret organization?”

“You work for them, too, you know.”

“The DEO?”

She dips her head and looks skeptical. “Unless you’re freelancing with another super secret government agency.”

“Okay, good.” Kara lets out another relieved breath. “Well, are you familiar with the multiverse theory? Or, have you ever come across, sort of, transdimensional travel?”

“Space travel, yes. Transdimensional travel? That’d be a new one.”

“Okay.” She squeezes her sister’s hands gently. “Here’s the crazy part. There are infinite universes, all around us, just vibrating at a slightly different frequency, basically. 

“There’s, ah, one where everyone is evil,” she tries to remember what Barry and Cisco have told her, “and another where JFK wasn’t shot. Okay?” Alex nods that she’s following the theory. “I’m from another Earth in the multiverse. I accidentally came through an interdimensional vortex and I ended up here. This isn’t… this isn’t my world.”

Alex raises an eyebrow. “This isn’t your world.”

“No.”

“What’s it like on your world, then?”

“Well, Lex Luthor is in prison for murdering dozens of people while trying to kill Superman, for starters.”

Kara doesn’t smirk but Alex is sure it’s some sort of morbid joke. “That isn’t funny.”

“I know.”

“Clark is Leroy’s godfather.”

“Who’s Leroy?”

“Lex’s son.” Alex rubs her eyes. “You really aren’t from this Earth.”

Kara shakes her head. “No. And I need to find a way to get home before tonight.”

“What happens to- oh god, you’re meeting Lena’s father. Look, where’s the other Kara, my sister? Is she on your Earth?”

“I don’t think so? It’s not like a swap or anything, so unless the Kara Danvers here _also_ fell into a vortex, we’re both on this Earth.”

“Okay, so you don’t actually have to go to dinner tonight. Kara, I mean, my Kara will go anyway.”

“Oh.” Kara runs her hand through her hair and breathes deeply. “That, that’s true, yeah. Good.”

“I'm going to call her.” Alex pulls out her phone and swipes to the contact. She holds the phone to her ear and frowns. “It's telling me her number has been disconnected.”

Kara sighs. “I'm pretty sure that's what's happening to mine. Maybe she did end up on my Earth.” She chews on her bottom lip. “I don't know _why_ , though. Is Winn here?”

“ _In my apartment?_ ” Alex recoils from the suggestion. “What the hell is happening on your Earth?”

Kara rolls her eyes. “No, I meant, is he in this world. He works at the DEO?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank Rao. DEO still at the, ah, same place?”

“Like two blocks from here,” Alex says, pointing eastward. 

“Oh good, I was hoping I wouldn't have to go back to the desert. I hate bats.”

Alex snorts. “They're not fond of you either, ever think of that?”

“As long as its mutual. Hey, um,” Kara glances at the bedroom, “I’m not, you know, interrupting, am I?”

Alex crosses her arms. “You’ve been in my apartment for twenty minutes, if I had someone else here don't you think you'd know it by now? Also, who _exactly_ are you expecting to be staying at my place?”

Both eyebrows go up. “No one. Nope. Just asking. No reason.”

“This isn't a time travel thing, right? You can tell me stuff about your Earth and it won't impact the timeline or whatever.”

Kara shakes her head. “I don't want to mess things up here.”

Alex sighs. “Look, we’re going to have to figure out what to tell people. Lena, especially.”

“We’ll have to reschedule dinner.”

“No way. This has been planned for months and you, I mean, my Kara, hasn't stopped talking about how important it is for Lena. This dinner _has_ to happen.”

Kara groans. 

*****

Kara sits in the medical bay at the DEO. The scans prove that she is who she says she is, down to her Kryptonian cells which match the samples taken when the Kara of this Earth first began working for the agency, and Alex confirms she’s in good health, minus a strange microscopic residue on her skin. 

“It might be due to the vortex,” she shrugs. “I’ve never noticed anything in the times I’ve traveled through it, but I haven’t been scanned immediately after, either.” 

J’onn agrees to hear her out and brings Winn into the room to get the details. 

“That is _so cool_ ,” Winn murmurs into the silence when she finishes speaking. He pokes her shoulder. Twice. Three times. 

“Winn, I’m not a hologram. It’s me.”

“Yeah, but, from another universe! That is _so cool_.”

“Mr. Schott.”

Winn drops his hand. “Yep, right, I’m on it, boss. Looking for any cooties that match the ones we scanned off this Kara.”

Alex rubs a hand over her face, knowing it’s useless to ask Winn to rebrand the particles. 

“You said you popped out at your apartment on Argo Street, right?”

“Yeah, on my way to work this morning.”

Winn hums a song to himself as he works. “Okay, it’s really faint, probably because it’s been several hours, but I’m getting a small reading from your apartment complex. I can’t pinpoint where it’s at within the building without a handheld scanner, which we don’t have, _yet_ , but it’s there.”

“What about our Kara?” Alex asks. 

“Well, if she was also leaving for work, let’s check her place.”

Kara frowns as the map shifts on Winn’s screen. “I don’t live in my apartment?”

“You and Lena live together,” Winn supplies. 

“Oh. Right. That makes sense.”

“Yep, faint, but the same readings are there. Definitely cooties.”

J’onn crosses his arms. “So she’s gone.”

“Most likely to my Earth. It’s, it’s a lot like this one,” she hastens to assure them, when the concern deepens on his face, “and I’m sure she’ll go to the DEO like I am and work something out. It’s just… I’m sorry I don’t have all the background to fill you guys in on the technical stuff.”

“I’ll do some research and see what I can do,” Winn smiles. 

“In the meantime, we should probably get ahold of Lena,” Alex sighs, “she should know what’s going on.”

“Oh, I, um, I already called her,” Winn says, raising his hand sheepishly. 

Three sets of eyes slowly shift to stare at him, in various stages of outage and disbelief. 

“It’s just, I have this thing, you know,” Winn scratches his ear, “I agreed, a long time ago, that if Kara was in the med bay, I’d call Lena and let her know. And, I just saw you guys come in, and then Kara went in there, and I didn’t know… so I kind of called her.”

“Where is she?” comes from somewhere outside the medical bay, tone sharp.

Kara hears the concern in Lena’s voice and the rapid click of her heels as she hurries down the hall. She pins her friend with a look. “What did you _say_?” she hisses.

“Um, just that you were at the DEO and I told her everything looked okay, you know, but… I didn’t have any details so I couldn’t answer any of her questions.”

Lena bursts into the room. Kara stands and holds her hands out as if to assure Lena, but the woman slams into her with a fierce embrace.

“Hey, I’m okay,” Kara soothes, arms coming around Lena automatically. “Winn didn’t mean to scare you.” She glares at the man and he shoves his hands in his pockets.

“What’s wrong?” Lena pulls back and runs her fingers along Kara’s forehead, cheeks, and jaw.

Kara glances at Winn and Alex and J’onn. “Can you guys give us a minute? Let’s find a place to talk, okay?” she offers, accepting the tight grip on her hand as they walk down the hall and step into the nearest conference room. 

Lena’s expression of worry only intensifies when it’s just them in the room. “Kara, what is it?”

“Can you, um, sit, please?” Kara takes a deep breath and taps her fingers against her thumb. She thought she’d have a little more time to figure out how to explain doppelgangers and transdimensional travel to a woman directly impacted by the swap. 

Lena sits, dropping her purse on the table.

“Have you ever heard of the multiverse theory?”

“Yes. The theory states infinite universes exist, just at a slightly different frequency.”

“Right! Exactly.” Kara grins at having one less thing to go over. She leans against the table carefully, resting her hip on the edge. “So, I… I’m kind of from a different Earth.”

Lena raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t know how, but I think the Kara Danvers from this Earth swapped places with me, and, well, here I am,” she sighs, throwing her hands up and shrugging her shoulders. She tries to make it a little light-hearted but Lena still appears skeptical. 

“You’re from a different universe,” she echoes flatly. 

“Yes.”

Lena scrutinizes her face for a long moment, then sighs. “Darling, if you really don’t want to go to dinner with my father, we can talk about it.”

Kara rubs at her eyes, pushing off from the table and sitting in the chair beside Lena’s. “This isn’t some ploy to get out of dinner, I swear it. Although I will admit the idea of meeting your parents terrifies me.”

Lena frowns. “Who are we having dinner with tonight, exactly?”

“Um, you said Lionel, and I guess Lillian, too.” Kara makes a face at the smudges on her lenses and removes her glasses briefly to clean them with the edge of her shirt. When she puts them back on, Lena is still staring at her. 

“Lillian died when I was seven.”

“Oh.” Kara tries to react appropriately but she’s not entirely certain how her facial expression comes across. She was aiming for _sorry someone you knew died_ but feels like she missed the mark. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t sound it.”

“Lillian Luthor is… not a good person on my world.”

Lena swallows. “How did we meet?”

“We met when I did my first interview with Clark, after the Venture exploded,” she replies.

Lena slouches and sinks into her chair. The confidence of Kara’s answer is what seems to rock her the most; there’s no hesitation, no flinch, no two second pause to think of a lie, just an immediate response, with what the woman before her clearly knows to be the truth. 

She lets out a small sigh and looks to the ceiling for a moment, beginning to believe. “We… I mean, my Kara and I met almost four years ago when I opened the National City branch of L-Corp. Long before she became a reporter.”

Kara gives a tiny shrug. 

“Oh, god.” Lena covers her mouth with her hand, mortified. “This morning, when you came into my office, I… that was _you_.”

“Um.” Kara scrunches up her nose and tries to fight the warmth she can feel building in her cheeks. “Yeah.”

“I’m… I apologize for being so… affectionate.”

Kara’s blush grows to her ears and she adjusts her glasses. “It’s okay. I mean, you thought I was your fiancée.” _And I didn’t really mind it,_ she admits. 

“On your world, are we… together?” Lena asks it casually, but there’s no rising intonation at the end of the word, as she’s fairly certain she knows the answer - despite the blonde’s embarrassment at their kiss, that could be simply because of the mistaken identity, the love she and Kara know is surely enough to -

Kara shakes her head, beginning to explain, “We’re good friends, but we’ve never dated,” but Lena’s face falls and tears fill her eyes. Kara’s crinkle is prominent. “What is it?”

Lena turns away and gathers her composure, taking her purse from the table and clutching it tightly in her lap. “I just… the thought of losing you, of not knowing you… my Kara, I mean. I didn’t expect that to feel so _real_.”

Kara bites her lip. “I’m sorry,” she says, helplessly. “Look, Alex said this dinner is a big deal, and I know I’m not really her, but, if you want, I can still go tonight.” When Lena swallows and grips her own arm, Kara scoots her chair a little closer. Lena with tears in her eyes is a sight that always breaks her heart. “We’re not dating on my Earth, but we’re still… you’re my best friend. I’d do anything for you.” 

Lena takes a slow breath and focuses on Kara once more. “You’d pretend we were engaged?”

“Sure.” Kara shifts back a little, digging her fingers into the arm of the chair so she doesn’t reach out to catch the droplets falling from dark lashes. “I mean, just until I can go home and we get your Kara back.”

“And she’s… wherever she is, she’s safe?”

“I think she’s just on my Earth, so yeah, she’s safe,” Kara assures her. “She’ll have my Lena, and Winn, and Alex, and everyone to help her.” She tilts her head. “Let me help you.”

Lena considers the offer, dabbing at her cheeks with a tissue, steadying her breathing. “I imagine I’d have to fill you in on a lot of details of this Earth and our relationship,” she says at last. She adjusts her posture and meets Kara’s gaze directly, green eyes dark, the same shade Kara has seen in her Lena when the woman is concerned. “Are you sure you’d be comfortable with that? If you and your Lena aren’t dating, wouldn’t it be strange for you to be in a relationship with me?”

Kara scratches her nose. “Well, we’ve never dated, that’s true.”

“But…?”

Kara lifts her chin and blurts, “But you’re an amazing woman in any universe and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know that.”

Lena chuckles, a bit charmed. “Alright. Well, dinner is in four hours. We’d better get to it.”

*****

Each woman admits it’s a strange situation. Lena feels as though she’s explaining their history to a woman who lived it and Kara feels completely adrift in a sea of stories that should equal memories but there are only blanks. 

Winn promises to keep working and let them know the moment he finds anything, adding that he’ll text Lena, even if it’s in the middle of dinner. 

“I don’t know if this is appropriate to wear for dinner,” Kara says, as they exit the DEO together. She’s in the same collared blue button-up and slacks she’d changed into after rescuing the surfer. 

“You have a dress at home. If you want.”

 _Home. With Lena._ “Oh, right. Of course.”

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Lena says gently, when Kara falls quiet, “let me call my father and cancel.”

“No, it’s fine. Honest. Just… a little strange, maybe.” She runs her tongue along her back teeth. “I know we talked about us, but what about Lionel? What’s he like?”

Lena spends the ride to their apartment giving Kara a detailed background on Lionel Luthor. He’s hard working, driven and dedicated, always looking for a way to improve the family business, and though Lena has taken over as CEO in the last few years, he and his son remain active on the board. 

Their relationship was strained when Lena was young, as Lionel focused so much on the wife he lost that he missed the daughter right in front of him, but the past several years have seen a lot of change, most of it good.

“Five years ago, if you’d have told me my father would call me once a week to catch up on my life, or that he seemed to be genuinely happy to hear I’m engaged, I would have said it was impossible,” Lena finishes, stepping out of the elevator into their floor. “But, he's really trying to do better.”

“That’s great,” Kara says, sincerely. She follows Lena into the apartment but hangs back a little as the woman moves around with ease, slipping off her heels and heading for the bedroom. 

She wanders around the front entrance, drawn by the framed pictures adorning the walls. The first one she sees is the one that earned James Olsen a Pulitzer, her cousin, posing in mid-flight, but the date on the snippet from the article is two years earlier than she expected. 

There’s a photo of her and Alex, not long after Kara’s arrival, with Kara wearing short-sleeves as she stands next to her clearly Not Excited new sister, which is strange because she distinctly remembers donning one of Alex’s sweatshirts at Eliza’s firm insistence.

“Here’s your dress, if you’d like,” Lena calls. 

Kara abandons the somehow-broken-memories for the sound of Lena’s voice and finds the woman holding out the hanger with the dark blue dress. She takes the dress and slips into the master bathroom to change, giving Lena the chance to do the same. 

Kara clears her throat loudly before she exits. 

“I’m decent,” Lena laughs. She smiles when Kara steps out, smoothing the deep blue material against her thighs, the strapless dress highlighting her broad shoulders and stopping just shy of her knees. “You look lovely.”

Kara blushes and nervously adjusts her glasses. “You, um, that’s a beautiful dress.”

Lena dips her head. “Thank you.” She wraps the matching red shawl around her arms, comfortable in her favorite high-waisted tea-length dress with three-quarter sleeves. “Shall we?”

*****

They arrive to Chez Gar ten minutes early and when they check in at the front, the maitre’d informs them that the rest of their party has already arrived. 

Kara has her arm looped through Lena’s as they follow the waiter to their table but she comes to an abrupt halt before they can approach. 

“Kara?”

She stares at the two men sitting some twenty feet away. “Lex…” she licks her lips and tries again, “Lex is here?”

“Yes.” Lena turns to her, blocking her from view in case either of the Luthor men turn around. “What's wrong?”

It takes her a moment to breathe. “I, it's nothing. Just, you know, different worlds.”

Lena shakes her head. “I'm canceling this.”

“No. Lena, we’re literally _right here_.” She hears the hitch in her own voice and clears her throat. 

“I can say I've developed a migraine. We’ll find another night.” Lena takes a good look at the actual fear on the woman’s face. “You don't have to do this.”

“It’ll be fine. I'm fine.” Kara puts on a smile. “It's fine. Come on.” _I promise, I'm going to do my best to make sure this goes well for you._ She pulls her shoulders back and sets her jaw. 

Lena is reluctant but Kara gives her no choice when she begins to walk toward the table once more.

Both men stand when the women arrive. Lena is greeted with a hug and Kara offers her hand, receiving firm handshakes and she consciously reins in her strength when she grips Lex’s hand. 

The man has dark blue eyes and a brilliantly bald head, but he makes a fine image in a dark suit. 

Lionel Luthor has a thick crop of greying red hair, a prominent chin, and a sharp profile that Kara recognizes as the one Lena inherited. 

“So, Kara Danvers,” he begins, when they're all seated and the waiter has taken their drink orders, “Lena tells me you're a reporter.”

“Yes, sir.” Is she supposed to call him sir? That’s respectful and polite, so she figures it's a safe bet. 

One corner of his mouth turns up slightly. “Lionel will do. How long have you been involved in journalism?”

“A little over two years now, but before that, I was Cat Grant’s assistant.” She’s confident in this part of the story since Lena confirmed that aspect was much the same as the Earth she'd come from. 

“People used to call _me_ a taskmaster,” Lex speaks up, giving Kara a nod, and she’s struck by how similar it sounds to the Lex Luthor she heard on the news, though without the volume and fervor of insanity, “but I was Gandhi compared to Catherine Grant.”

“And Kara remains the longest serving assistant Cat ever had,” Lena adds.

Lionel nods, accepting these tidbits. “What made you decide to be a reporter?”

“Oh, I've always been interested in telling people stories of the world around them, finding the truth and presenting facts to increase awareness.” She takes a small sip from the water the waiter sets on the table. 

Lena accepts her glass of wine with a quiet thanks and continues watching Kara closely, though this is the easy part. 

“When Ms. Grant offered me a promotion, she let me choose the next position I wanted, and I decided I wanted to try my hand at reporting.”

“I knew when I stepped down after Leroy was born that the company would be in good hands,” Lex says, holding his glass of scotch. He keeps gentle eyes on his father, but gestures to encompass the blonde at the table as he speaks, “Lena has taken the business and run with it, and while the growth each quarter is due to her hard work, the success in public perception is largely thanks to Kara’s early articles on L-Corp and our charitable efforts.” 

He winks at Kara and she's not sure what to make of a friendly Lex Luthor. 

“Well, you've clearly won over both of my children,” Lionel chuckles. 

Kara smiles politely and fusses with her glasses. 

Lena puts a warm hand on her knee.

Kara covers it with her own, squeezing gently, appreciative of the physical support, letting it center her. 

The discussion flows easily, or at least so it seems to Kara, as Lena steers the conversation her way when it’s something they’ve gone over and provides answers or supplemental tidbits when necessary without stepping on Kara’s words or making it appear as though she needs the help. 

The Luthors talk business for a few minutes and Kara is grateful, taking the opportunity to breathe and refocus. It’s still unnerving to be seated across from the man she only knows as her cousin’s nemesis and make small talk. 

_This is not the Lex I know,_ she reminds herself. _If anything, this is Lex as Lena knew him. This is more how she remembers him._

That thought hits hard and she finishes her water in two gulps as discreetly as possible. 

Lex’s phone buzzes on the table and he apologizes as he picks it up. “I’m afraid I can’t stay for dessert,” he says. “Leroy’s had a fever all day and Lizzy says he’s refusing to go to bed without seeing his papa, so I have to go Skype him his bedtime story.” He smiles fondly at the thought of his son and gets to his feet, tossing his cloth napkin on his plate. “Lee, I’ll trust you to enjoy a piece of pumpkin pie for me.”

Lena rolls her eyes as she stands and gives her brother a hug. “Give Leroy a kiss from me, tell him he has to feel better so we can go on our science adventure in two weeks.”

He chuckles. “I’ll remind him. Kara,” he takes her hand and leans forward to kiss her cheek gently, “it was great to see you again. I’ve been keeping an eye on your column, you know? I’m glad it’s doing so well.”

“Thank you,” _this is Lena’s brother, not just Lex Luthor,_ “I hope Leroy feels better soon.”

Lionel gives his son a brief hug and slaps him on the back. “Tell that boy his grandpa will see him tomorrow. And Alexander, if his fever isn’t broken by morning, you bring him to the hospital, yes? Or I’ll have Dr. Smythe make a house call.”

“I promise,” Lex grins, and then strides out of the restaurant. 

“The dinner will be over soon,” Lena whispers into Kara’s ear, under the guise of pulling her close for a kiss to her cheek, “my father is a total sap for his only grandchild.”

They all take their seats again and Lionel clears his throat, runs one hand through his hair, then signals for the waiter. 

“I need to call Lizzy and get a rundown of Leroy’s symptoms,” he explains, any regret at ending the evening early overtaken by concern for his grandson, “so I can pass them on to Dr. Smythe. Just in case.” He passes his credit card to the waiter. “Kara, I’m glad I finally got to meet the woman that’s stolen my Lena’s heart.”

“And she has mine, without question.” Kara smiles and brings Lena’s hand to her lips for a moment, pressing a kiss against her knuckles.

“We’ll have to do this again sometime before the wedding, when Lizzy can join us, too.” Lionel signs the receipt and slips his credit card back into his thin leather wallet. “Let me walk you out to the valet.”

Kara is grateful when the valet quickly pulls up with Lionel’s car, a sleek dark Mercedes, and Lena gets another kiss on the cheek before he climbs into the driver’s side and pulls away, and Kara lets out a long breath. 

“Thank you,” Lena says, putting a hand on her shoulder, “you did great.”

“Are you sure it went okay?” she asks, biting her lip, worried she slipped up somewhere.

“It was just what we needed for a first dinner, and as much as I wish Leroy was feeling better, it probably means we'll have another dinner before the wedding, so my Kara can be here.” She smiles and slides into the backseat when their driver holds open the door, and Kara settles beside her. “How are you?”

“Still getting rid of the nerves,” she admits, buckling her seatbelt as the car begins to move. 

“Will you… who is my brother to you on your Earth?”

Kara shakes her head. “It doesn't matter. That isn't… that isn't who he is here. The Lex Luthor I know is not your brother.”

Lena sighs. She checks her phone. “Nothing yet from Winn.”

“Maybe in the morning.”

*****

The ride from the restaurant is spent in silence. Lena lets Kara have her space, the reporter clearly lost in her thoughts, and Lena takes a few moments to consider the situation. 

She tries to imagine what life must be like on this other Earth - one where, it seems, Lex is clearly not a good person, beyond just a ruthless businessman, and Lillian is alive, and also some kind of evil? Lillian had never been what Lena would call warm, and she’d been very much the stereotypically rich xenophobe, but Lena was legitimately sad when she passed, losing two mothers in her first eight years of life. 

And Lex… well. He was fifteen when Lillian died and lost himself in studies and research, graduating high school six months later and becoming more active in the business. Then, when it became clear that Lionel was completely lost, he swooped in when Lena was ten and cared for his little sister, teaching her everything he knew and honing her natural skill for engineering, mathematics, and robotics. Lena worshiped her big brother when she was younger and, as she grew, it turned to a fierce love and a loyalty that made it nearly impossible for her to picture Lex responsible for anything that would cause the outright fear she saw on Kara’s face.

And then there’s Kara herself - the two are friends on the other Earth, which is good, but the blonde claims there’s nothing else between them. 

Lena muses on that as they enter the condominium. 

_Then again, she insisted on having a family dinner even though it meant pretending to be in a relationship._ Perhaps the situation there wasn’t as clean-cut as Kara made it out to be. _I know I certainly can’t imagine there being a world in which I’m not hopelessly in love with Kara Danvers._

Her chuckle escapes as they exit the elevator on their floor. 

Kara blinks a few times as she focuses on her. “What?”

“Just thinking.” She unlocks the front door and drops her purse on the table near the entrance. “I’m going to get you something for dessert. We’ve got apple pie that Alex brought over last weekend, will that work?”

“That’s great, but, um -”

“I _know_ that single entree at Chez Gar wasn’t nearly enough for you.”

Kara blushes. “Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

She returns to the pictures in the entryway, finding comfort in the sounds of Lena bustling around the kitchen, fixing her a quick dessert before even changing out of her dress or removing her heels. _That’s love,_ she chuckles to herself. 

She smiles again at the photo of her and Alex, moving on to view the others on the wall. 

The third picture lodges her heart in her throat. There’s a sound from somewhere close by but she can’t tell what it is. Her vision blurs and the interior of the apartment begins to darken. 

“Kara?” Pie forgotten on the counter, Lena is at her side, near but not touching. “Can you talk to me? _Khuhp i zhor_ ,” she slips into Kryptonian, knowing this woman isn’t her fiancee but it’s clear she’s hurting, and Lena will do whatever she can to help, “you’re safe. Easy, beloved. Can you take a breath for me?”

It’s the sound of her native tongue that brings Kara back to awareness. She realizes her hands are in tight fists and that she’s broken the wooden chair at the small desk. “I’m, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about that. I’m going to put my hands on you, okay?” Kara nods and then feels fingers in her hair and a hand circling her wrist, with a thumb stroking the skin firmly. “Did you know you screamed her name?”

“Tell me about the picture,” she pleads. 

Lena doesn’t have to look up, she knows which one Kara saw. 

A woman stands in the living room of this very apartment, holding up a large woven rug of sorts, with lots of gold and red, though the details are hard to make out in the photo. Though the woman is tall, she holds the tapestry above her head and it still rests on the ground. She’s looking directly at the camera, teeth showing in a proud grin, and though her right ear and part of her chin are obscured by the rug, a streak of white is visible in her hair. 

The Kara and Kal-El from this universe are at her side, smiling brilliantly. 

“It was taken just over two years ago. You can probably tell by the decorations, but it was around Christmas, when all of our family and friends trickle in over a couple of days.” Lena grips Kara’s shoulder, trying to impart as much comfort and support as possible. “That year, it was also our housewarming party because we’d just moved in to this place. She worked on the tapestry for months.”

“You… you know her? She’s… she’s here?” Kara is still having trouble drawing full breaths. 

“I knew her, yes. Kara, I’m… I’m sorry, she died about five months after the picture was taken.”

The tears are coming too hard now for speech to be intelligible but Lena understands. 

“She was the victim of an anti-alien hate crime.”

Another broken question. 

“No, you don’t need to know,” Lena says gently. “But she loved you, so much. She and Kal were close with you when you were growing up here on Earth.”

Something in her snaps and Kara cries herself into a ball on the floor.

*****

The next thing she knows, she’s half-naked and in bed with Lena. 

Her aching heart tries to get her brain in gear enough to process the situation accurately. 

Not quite half-naked. But definitely down to her bra and underwear. Does that count as more than half?

Lena is beside her. Kara cracks an eye open and finds the woman is fully clothed, though she's traded her dress for sleepwear.

She must hear the sheets move when she stirs, as Lena quickly turns to face her, running a hand over her forehead in a feather-light touch. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m… I’ll be okay. But, um, why am I naked?”

“I’m sorry if you’re uncomfortable, but you were burning up and wanted out of your dress.” She gestures to the bowl of water and the cotton washcloth. “A shower was going to be the next step but you seemed a little better, and I didn’t want to go too far.”

“No, it’s okay, I… I'm surprised you could move me.” She sits up slowly, keeping the sheet against her chest. She feels the usual ache, the still-there throb at the back of her head, the soreness that accompanies the sudden dump of stress and emotion. 

“I didn't,” Lena says, “I asked and you came with me.”

“Oh. I don't, Alex… she says sometimes it’s like I can’t hear anything she says when I, when I get like that.”

“Maybe it was the Kryptonian that you responded to.”

Kara swallows. “That, yeah, probably. Thank you. Can I, ah, my clothes?”

“Here.” Lena hands over a set of cotton pajamas she’d put out on the corner of the bed. “It’s not quite ten-thirty,” she says, “do you want to try to rest a little? Maybe sleep?”

Kara shakes her head. 

“Okay.” She takes this in stride and Kara wonders briefly how many of these breakdowns Lena has witnessed. Lena shrugs off the covers and gets to her feet. “Do you still want some pie? How about some hot chocolate?” she asks, pausing before she exits the bedroom.

“Hot chocolate, please.” Kara dresses quickly, padding barefoot into the kitchen. 

Lena sets the kettle to boil and keeps a close eye on Kara, as Kara keeps running her hands through her hair, rubbing her arms, trying to avoid dropping into a vacant stare as she wants to imagine what it might have been like to be there when the photo was taken, to have her Aunt Astra alive, happy, a presence in her life, instead of - 

“Kara?”

“Oh.” Lena’s offering her a cup of hot chocolate and Kara realizes she completely missed the whistle of the kettle or the other sounds and motions of Lena moving around the kitchen. “Sorry. This, thanks. Thank you.”

“Come on,” Lena says, leading her into the living room, urging her to sit on the couch. When she obeys, sitting cross-legged, Lena takes a thick knit blanket and throws it across her lap, waiting to make sure Kara will leave it there. 

Lena settles on a comfortable chair nearby and nurses her glass of wine. She’s drawn the curtains and turned two lamps on, dim, hoping to set a relaxed atmosphere. She keeps the topic light, chatting idly, explaining the little inside jokes that Kara might have missed during dinner, telling her the story of Thanksgiving 2008, which saw Lex rope Lena into trying to help the kitchen staff. 

“To this day, I can’t buy a pumpkin pie without remembering our spectacular failure. And to be certain I don’t forget, Lex brings one every year and writes my name on it in whipped cream.”

Kara smiles, laughing politely. It’s still a little strange to hear Lena talk of Lex in such recent, glowing terms, and she takes a liberal swallow of her hot chocolate and asks, “Who proposed?”

Lena chuckles. “I did. Twice.”

“Twice?”

“You said no the first time.”

“I did _what_?” Kara nearly shrieks. 

“Well, technically, you said ‘Geneva?’ and then you abruptly left the dinner.”

Kara blinks. “That was…”

“The night you came out as Supergirl to save Alex, yes.”

“What, um, what did you do?”

Lena swirls the wine in her glass for a moment, thinking back. “I got the check and went home. I turned on the news. I saw you pull yourself out of the water, climb on the wing, and then fly away; it was all they played in a loop for the next several days. You were in the living room a minute later trying to apologize but honestly you were too excited to apologize properly.” Lena laughs a little when Kara blushes, then she sobers. “When the adrenaline wore off, after Alex came over and had her say, I went to bed. You crept in beside me and asked if I was mad.”

“Were you?” Kara whispers, setting her mug on the coffee table to lean forward and hear Lena’s answer. 

“How could I be mad at you for saving your sister? Yes, it means our lives have been more complicated, but it’s been worth it. You’re happier as Supergirl than you were before. Helping others is what you do.”

“When did you propose the second time?”

“Seven months later, when we’d settled into our new routine and it was obvious you weren’t going to do it, because apparently you didn’t want to… how did you put it? Oh, right. You didn’t want to _tie me to a superhero’s life_.” She smiles. “I told you that you were a hero long before you put on the cape and that our lives were tied together from the moment we met. Then, you said yes.”

Kara sighs. She pulls her knees up and rests her chin there. “My Lena back home… she doesn’t know I’m Supergirl. I worry she’ll hate me for not telling her.”

“How long did you say you’ve known each other?”

“We’ve been friends for almost two years. Best friends for most of that.”

Lena muses on that. “I know we aren’t the same, of course, clearly our situations are different, but we’d been friends for eight months before we began dating, and I didn’t find out you were Kryptonian for another month or so after that.” She tilts her head. “I was hurt, a little, but we talked it through. And Kara, I feel safe in saying that there is no universe in which I could hate you.”

*****

Despite Lena’s concerned insistence, (“If… if what happened earlier reoccurs, I’d prefer you to be somewhere I can get to you quickly.”), Kara sleeps on the couch. 

She dreams of her aunt, of what could have been… of what is, in this universe. 

She wakes more rested than she expected, determined to get back to her own Earth and return this Earth’s Kara to her fiancée. 

*****

Winn apparently shares her determination. 

“I've got an idea!” he calls the moment she and Lena walk into the DEO, waving them over to his desk.

Alex is cradling a cup of coffee. “What he means is, good morning.”

He gestures wildly. “Yeah, good morning, all that jazz. Hi, Lena.”

“Hello, Winn. What's your idea?”

“Well, I haven't figured out how to make a portal open or anything, but I was thinking - from what Kara said, the DEO on the other Earth is probably much more experienced in this stuff than we are.” 

He says ‘we’ but he points at himself and Kara hopes he doesn't blame himself for being unable to send her home. 

“So instead of trying to force something they’re likely already doing, what if we just made it easier for them to find us?” Winn beckons them closer to view his computer screen. “We know that you got the interdimensional cooties when you came through, so if I had to guess, that might be something they can use to figure out where you ended up. What if we just put out a boatload of those suckers, made us light up like a beacon?”

“And wait for them to see the big neon sign,” Alex nods. “I like it.” She looks over to the director, standing just outside his office. He gives her a thumbs up. “J’onn says you're good to go.”

Winn pumps his fist. “Yes! Thanks, boss,” he grins, giving J’onn excited finger guns. He pushes off with the balls of his feet, sliding his wheeled chair across the floor to another desk. “I've got the equipment all set up. The beacon will release the particles in a spare storage bay down the hall, and we’ll monitor it closely for any signal from the other Earth or creation of a portal.”

He presses several keys and then sits back in his chair. “Now, we wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kryptonian - _khuhp i zhor_ is "my heart"


	2. Chapter Two

Earth-23

“Shoot, shoot, dang it,” Kara mutters, rushing back into the condo through the open window, changing quickly from her suit back into the pink cardigan she’d chosen for the day. Lena’s already left for work and Kara intended to be right behind her, but then she’d heard the sirens and jumped out to help the police take care of a mugging-turned-armed-standoff. 

“I’m so going to be late,” she groans, stuffing her key into the lock as she exits, giving it a quick turn.

Kara takes four steps down the hall but before she can reach the elevator, a bright blue light appears in front of her. It’s a large oval shape, pulsing, making a sort of windy, wave-crashing sound and though she tries to step around to view the other side, she ends up moving through it.

* * *

She’s exactly one step farther down the hallway. 

She looks around. 

The portal is gone, as if it never happened. 

_Weird._

Kara chalks it up to the strangeness of National City and continues on her way to work. 

*****

“Hey, boss, shouldn't I have the docks?” Kara asks, squinting at the assignment board. _Danvers_ was crossed out in red ink, with _Fisher_ in its place, next to _docks crime_. "I mean, my col-"

“You're lucky you’ve still got your head attached to your shoulders, walking in thirty minutes late, incommunicado for the morning, and questioning me within the first ten seconds,” Snapper growls. “You get two text messages, ponytail, then I assume you're dead and I assign someone else. Miracle of miracles, you're not dead, just irresponsible. Come back on Monday and try again. Maybe if you can be bothered to check your phone, you’ll still have a job Monday afternoon.”

Kara blinks. His acrid demeanor is unsurprising but she thought they were past most of his bark. “I don't have any messages from you, chief.” 

She checks her phone again to be sure. _Actually, I don't have any messages from anyone. Not even Lena. That's weird._

“Then I’d say you have the weekend to get it fixed. Now get out of here before I preemptively assign you to cover the landscaping at the golf club.” He taps his pen against his desk and glares at her over the rims of his glasses. “Does lawn care interest you that much, Danvers?”

“No, sir. See you Monday.”

Kara shuffles out of the reporters den, frowning at her phone as she taps on various apps and menus. 

Nothing. She can pull up old text messages, but nothing from the past hour, and it won't let her send off one of her own. 

With a sigh, she decides to make the most of her unexpected day off and visit her fiancée.

*****

It's a little strange when the security guards insist that she sign in at the front desk, but she figures they must be having a rough morning and humors them, adding her information to the visitor log. She walks through the metal detector, which is the norm, but then they ask to give her purse a second look and she nods, because _of course_ today of all days she'd be chosen for a random additional security check. 

When she's finally waved through, she arrives at the elevators to see one set of doors slide shut just in front of her, and she waits impatiently for the other elevator to arrive at the lobby. 

_It's just one of those days_ , she decides, stepping into the blissfully empty lift and beginning to pace. _All the little things are going wrong. But now, I get to see Lena, and she makes everything better._

Knowing Lena can always cheer her up, Kara is determined not to take her mood out on Lena’s dedicated assistant and to just power through until she can wrap her arms around the woman she loves. 

She plants a smile on her face. “Morning, Jess.”

“Good morning, Ms. Danvers. I’m afraid I don’t see you down for an appointment this morning.”

Kara winks at her, wondering if Jess can sense her foul mood and made a conscious choice for sarcasm. _A decent try, really deadpan, she's good._ “I don’t think she’ll mind.”

Jess raises an eyebrow. “Well, Ms. Luthor is currently free, but I insist you at least call ahead, as you normally do.”

She sketches a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am,” and laughs again as she pushes the doors open and enters Lena’s office. 

Lena smiles when she looks up. “I didn’t expect to see you this morning.”

Kara walks up to her desk and leans against it casually. She's itching to come around and just bury her face in the dark hair, but she gives Lena room in case she's in the middle of something. She makes it a rule to remain professional until Lena gives an indication that personal affections are okay at the office. 

“Yeah, I figured I’d be working on the story at the docks but Snapper claimed he’d been trying to reach me all morning to reassign me, but when he couldn’t get ahold of me, he just pulled me from the story. Told me to try again on Monday.” She sighs. “It’s been awhile since he treated me like that and I really don’t know why my phone is on the fritz.”

“It sounds like you're having a difficult morning,” Lena sympathizes, leaning forward. “Maybe I can take a look at your phone for you?”

Kara hands her phone over, then tilts her head. “Have you been working in the labs already?”

“No,” Lena drawls, “I’ve been at my desk all morning.”

She raps her knuckles on the surface gently. “I just wondered why you weren’t wearing your ring.”

Lena frowns. “What ring?”

Kara tries for a teasing tone. “I know we decided it wasn’t safe for _Supergirl_ to wear one,” she says, gesturing at herself, “but you said you wanted to wear yours.”

Lena’s face betrays nothing. Honestly, the reveal is much less of a surprise compared to the casual way Kara admitted it. But then, there was this other, new question: “Again, what ring are you talking about?”

“Your engagement ring,” Kara rolls her eyes. Lena’s sense of humor has always been one of her favorite things, but today Kara finds it a little tiring. “You only take it off if you have to work in the labs.”

Now Lena arches an eyebrow, intrigued. “Who do you think I’m engaged to?”

“For the love of Rao, Lena, what’s going on right now?”

“That’s a very good question,” Lena agrees, other eyebrow raised at the deity’s name. _I’ve only heard that god referenced when speaking about Kryptonians… I really thought we’d talk about this a little more, but maybe we’re just… going with it._

“You’re engaged to me,” she sighs heavily, giving in to whatever game Lena is playing. “We’ve been engaged for almost seven months.”

There’s a long silence as Lena just stares at her, open-mouthed. _This isn’t… something is wrong here._ “I… Kara, listen, I don’t know what all of this is about, but… I think we should go see Alex.” _Potential emergencies involving her sister definitely qualify as worthy of interrupting her day off._

“What? Why?” Kara scowls, then smirks as it hits her. “Oh, did Alex put you up to this? Bet you how long it would take me to just play along?”

“You seem very insistent that we’re engaged.”

“We are.”

Lena shakes her head firmly. “No, we aren’t.”

Kara rubs her forehead. “Is this some sort of delayed payback because I kind of walked out on you when you proposed the first time?”

“Kara. I _don’t_ know what you’re talking about.”

She frowns. “You… you don’t remember?”

Lena rests her elbows on the desk, spreading her hands, palms out, trying to soothe Kara’s growing agitation. “I can’t remember what never happened.”

“What day did we meet?”

“July 7th, almost two years ago.”

Kara steps forward and puts her hands on Lena’s cheeks, gazing at her with concern. Her thumbs trace high cheekbones and Lena freezes. “Maybe we _should_ see Alex,” she says, “obviously something is wrong. We’ve known each other for going on four years now, and it was February 8th that we met.”

Lena shifts out of Kara’s grasp and presses the intercom on her desk. “Jess, please clear my schedule for the day and have Samuel bring the car around. I’m leaving in a few minutes.”

“Yes, Ms. Luthor.”

“We’ll get this figured out, okay?”

Kara nods, slipping her phone back into her pocket, watching Lena closely as she moves around the office, gathering her things. 

“Ready?”

Kara nods again and follows her out the door, keeping a hand on her lower back. 

Lena is acutely aware of the touch, as well as Jess’ raised eyebrow when she notices the pair, but she doesn’t step away. Kara seemed distinctly unsettled since she entered the office after whatever occurred with Snapper, but her silence the past few minutes worries Lena, and if the physical contact helps Kara feel a little more secure, it feels like the least she can do. 

The ride over to Alex’s apartment is also in complete silence, but Kara fidgets. Her fingers are never still, twisting and tugging at themselves, and she glances at Lena continuously, knee bouncing rapidly. 

She follows Kara into the elevator and then onto the third floor and down the hallway. 

Kara knocks.

The door swings open a few moments later and Kara takes a half-step back. 

“Oh, um, sorry. Is Alex here?”

Maggie looks over Kara’s shoulder to Lena, who shakes her head briefly and shrugs. 

“Yeah, come on in. Hey, babe, Kara and Lena are here.”

Alex pauses the movie and stands from the couch, knowing a visit from her sister and Lena Luthor in the middle of the day probably means something complicated. “What’s up?”

Kara gives Maggie a wide berth but ultimately ignores her. “Alex, something’s wrong. Lena doesn’t remember we’re engaged. We need your help. Can we take her to the -” 

“Um, Kara,” Alex glances back at Lena, “you’ve told me you had a crush on her,” she says quietly, “but you guys aren’t even dating.” She pauses and looks at Lena sideways for a moment. “You’re not dating my sister, are you?” 

Maggie’s eyebrows shoot upwards as she watches the exchange. 

Lena shakes her head. 

“Okay, so tell me why you think you two are engaged?” 

“Because we _are_!” Kara insists, throwing her hands into the air, gesturing wildly. “We’re going to be married in three months and tonight is this huge dinner where I’m going to meet Lionel for the first time and I’m really nervous about it, okay, but I’m going to go because I love her more than anything in this universe. I don’t know how neither of you remember any of this.”

Lena speaks up softly. “Did you say you were meeting Lionel Luthor?”

“Yes,” Kara sighs, frustrated, “my future father-in-law.”

“Kara… my father has been dead for over fifteen years.”

“What? No, Lillian died when you were seven. Lex helped raise you when Lionel kind of floundered at the whole single parent thing, but he’s gotten better.”

Now Lena has tears in her eyes and she looks away. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Kara reaches for her. “What did I say?”

Alex pulls Kara back when Lena doesn’t acknowledge the hand on her arm, and Maggie takes a step forward to gently put a hand on Lena’s shoulder. “Kara, did you… did anything strange happen to you today?” 

Kara squints, gesturing briefly to her current situation and the apparently contagious amnesia going around National City. 

“No, not… like, any blue swirling vortices?”

“Yes!”

Alex and Maggie sigh heavily. 

“What does that mean?” Lena asks. 

Alex rubs her forehead. “It means we’re going to talk to some people that might be able to figure this out.” She glances at Lena. “I guess you’re coming with us. There’s, um… paperwork involved.”

Kara looks around the room, focusing on Lena and then Alex and back to Lena. “Wait, you’ve never been to the DEO?”

Lena shakes her head. 

“Oh, so you… this morning when I…”

Lena shrugs. “It wasn’t a complete shock.”

Kara groans and covers her face. 

“What did you do?” Alex demands. 

“She might have referred to herself in the third person. As Supergirl.”

Maggie tries to smother a chuckle. Based on the glare from Alex, she failed, so she swipes her keys from the counter. “Gotta, um, get to work. Call if you need me!”

Alex wants to cry. 

*****

Lena finishes signing the necessary paperwork and exits the conference room, joining Kara in the medical bay, where Alex and Winn and a man she now knows as Director Henshaw are working. 

“These are similar to the exotic matter particles we’ve seen from other transdimensional travel,” Winn confirms, going over the readings. 

“Similar? So, not an exact match?”

“Not quite,” he nods to Alex. “I’ll need to reach out to Cisco to know more, but there _is_ something off.”

“Who’s Cisco?” Kara asks.

Winn scratches his cheek. “He’s a friend of ours from Earth-1, we’ve had a few vortices thanks to him and his friend Barry. They know more about the breaches and portals than anyone.”

“Can he get me back? I mean, look, this seems nice, especially given the alternatives you’ve said exist, but I need to get home.” She glances at Lena, trying to reconcile that the woman is not, in fact, the love of her life. “I can’t miss that dinner.”

“Assuming that time passes the same, I don’t think we’ll be able to get you back before tomorrow.” Alex puts a hand on her shoulder. “But I’m sure it’ll be okay.”

Kara shakes her head and sighs. “This means so much to Lena. I can’t disappoint her.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand.” Lena speaks quietly, approaching the reporter, accepting her hands when Kara reaches out habitually. “Though, if it were me, I’d probably reschedule - interdimensional travel wouldn’t be a good enough excuse to get you out of a Luthor family dinner,” she says, trying to tease, and the tiny smile from Kara tells her it landed. 

“Yeah,” comes out in a watery mixture that’s half-sob, half-laugh, “that’s probably true.” Kara tugs Lena’s hands up to kiss her knuckles, lingering there with a long sigh, before recoiling abruptly and releasing her hold when she remembers where she is. “Rao, I’m sorry, I -”

“You’re okay,” Lena soothes. 

Alex clears her throat quietly. “I’m going to get the communicator from Kara’s apartment, do you want to go with me?”

“Oh.” Kara blinks. “Sure.”

It only takes the briefest of glances for Lena to understand the wordless plea. “I’ll tag along, if that’s alright.” She meets Alex’s gaze. “I had Jess clear my schedule for the day.”

The redhead shrugs. “It’s a party. Let’s go.”

Alex leads the way out of the DEO, Lena and Kara a few steps behind. 

“I’m sorry,” Kara whispers, “I know you aren’t… I just, this is… I’ve dealt with all kinds of threats and strange situations, or so I thought, but I’m really out of my depth here.”

She has a feeling it’s a force of habit when Kara interlocks their fingers together, but Lena doesn’t mind and makes no effort to pull away. “You’re okay,” she repeats, in the same gentle tone. “We’re still best friends, right?”

At that, Lena gets her first full smile of the day.

*****

It doesn’t take Alex long to retrieve the Earth-1 communicator. 

“I’m just going to - hey,” she calls, and Kara startles from where she’d been staring at the pictures on the wall, Lena’s hand still firmly in her own. When she has her attention, Alex continues, “I’m going to jump over to Earth-1 real quick and see what Cisco and Barry have to say about this. I’d say you could come with me, but I really don’t know what traveling to a third universe might do, so I’d rather you stay here.”

Kara nods. “Be careful.”

“Always.” Alex presses a button on the small device and a blue portal appears. 

Kara takes a step back and tugs Lena with her, not wanting either of them to get too close. 

Alex dips her head to the pair and then steps through, the vortex swirling closed a few moments later. 

Kara lets out a breath. 

Lena squeezes her hand gently. “She’ll be back.”

“Yeah.” She quickly gets lost in the memories-not-memories of the apartment again and Lena lets her lead them back to the photographs. “It’s so weird,” she says at last, tracing an image of her and Alex when they were teens, “I remember this, but it’s not quite right. I recognize that forced smile on Alex’s face. This was like less than six months after I landed on Earth, but in the picture in my universe, I’m wearing a short-sleeve shirt because even though it was January, I was plenty warm and Eliza tried to convince me to wear a sweater but I refused.” 

She taps the blonde girl in the oversized sweatshirt in the picture before them. “That’s Alex’s,” she says with a smile, “and I doubt she let me borrow it of her volition… but maybe she did here.” Kara sighs and repeats, “So weird.”

“What about this one?” Lena asks, pointing to a photo of herself and Kara, a candid shot from a game night several months back. 

Kara gives it a look, then laughs. “Is that Monopoly? Rao, we learned early on not to let you touch that game.” At Lena’s startled, and perhaps slightly hurt, expression, Kara hurries, “Not like that! You’re just brilliant at it and it only took two game nights so Winn could confirm it wasn’t just _beginner’s luck_ , and we decided Monopoly was blacklisted. Lena,” she says with a laugh, “our games used to take at least three hours - once, a single game crossed two weeks because Alex refused to pay Kal’s rent - but you managed to win the game, both times, within thirty minutes.”

“Oh.” Lena lifts her chin. “Well, I _am_ an accomplished businesswoman.”

Another full smile from Kara. “In any universe, I’m sure.”

Something from Kara’s recollection sticks with her, and she tries to let it go, but, “Did you say Superman was playing Monopoly? Was that… before I started attending game nights?”

Kara shakes her head. “Kal-El can’t always make it, of course, but he tries to be there about once a month. You and he are partners for Pictionary when Lex is caught up in Metropolis.”

She’s wrapped in Kara’s fierce embrace before Lena realizes she’s actively sobbing. 

The words in her ear don’t make any sense - _Kryptonian?_ she wonders - but Kara is stroking her hair and holding her close, pressing gentle kisses to her temple in between phrases, and she surrenders to the tender attention. 

“ _Voiai?_ ” Kara murmurs, when Lena finally pulls away. Kara loosens her hold and gives the woman a little room, though she would have easily maintained the embrace for hours if it was what Lena needed. 

Lena has a feeling the gentle ministrations were more a natural reaction to her doppelganger being upset. She tries to focus when she realizes Kara is repeating that word. “I don’t…”

“Are you alright?” 

“Yes… yes, I’m sorry, I’m just… here, Lex is… well, we don’t play Pictionary.” The last part comes out with a bitter laugh and Kara’s brow creases again, concern darkening her eyes. “No, it’s fine. It’s just… different worlds.” She wipes at her eyes, says, “Excuse me,” and flees to the small bathroom.

Kara starts to go after her but stops when she reaches the threshold of the bedroom. _This isn’t my Lena,_ she reminds herself, exhaling slowly, retreating to the dining room, pacing a little. _She’s hurting and Rao, I hate seeing her hurting, but I have to… we aren’t even dating here. Which, okay, that seems kind of crazy._

She sighs and forces herself not to listen to the sniffles coming from the bathroom. She turns her focus to the decorations in the apartment, the little touches she recognizes (the knick-knacks in the bookcase, the vintage typewriter Alex had given her when she moved in) and the ones that are foreign (was she a painter on this Earth? that would explain the easel), but the layout itself is pulling her back to the last time she was in this apartment. 

She’d been so mad, furious, offended, hurt… that first night, she was so full of righteous anger and pouted her way to sleep, but by the second day -

The whirl of the portal startles her and she jumps away from it, super speed kicking in until she finds herself pressed against the front door. 

Alex steps out and the vortex closes shortly after. The redhead looks around and raises an eyebrow. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Kara settles her shoulders. “Just didn’t expect you back so soon.”

“Cisco and Barry are good at what they do. They’ll find out what’s going on.” She takes in the apartment, more slowly this time. “Where’s Lena?”

Kara bites her lip. “She… she’s upset.”

Alex narrows her eyes. “About what?”

“I don’t… I’m not sure. We were talking about game night on my Earth, and Kal-El and Lex and Monopoly, and she…” Kara points to the bathroom and shrugs helplessly. “I don’t know.”

*****

Lena grips the sink with both hands, letting her head hang down for a moment, allowing herself three shuddering breaths before pulling her shoulders back and gazing into the mirror. 

_These are just stories from a different Earth,_ she insists. _Nothing would have been under my control, had I even known. There's nothing… nothing I could have done to make Lex like the one she knows._

 _Game night with Lex and Superman? That's just…_ the laugh bubbles to the surface again and she shakes her head firmly, refusing to let the emotion win. She sets her purse on the counter and pulls out her makeup so she can reapply and touch up where her mascara has run. _That's just fantasy. Something not from this world._

It takes ten more minutes before she can face her again, this other Kara, this woman who knows her brother in some pleasant way, who speaks of him as a brother-in-law and not a half-mad (all mad?) villain with blood on his hands and in his name. 

Alex is back in the living room when she returns and the agent gives her a vaguely sympathetic look.

“What's the status?” she asks.

Kara reaches for her, hesitates, then clasps her hands together tightly in front of her, thumb digging into her palm. 

“Barry says they call it Earth-23,” Alex reports. “Cisco couldn't find any evidence of a normally occurring breach so they aren't sure what caused it, but they’ll keep looking. I set them up with a link to Winn so they can communicate directly.”

“What’s a normal breach?” Lena asks. 

“Usually, Earth-1, Barry’s Earth, is the anchor for one part of the vortex. Every portal before now has either gone to or from Earth-1.” She shrugs. “They’re not really sure how one was created from Earth-23 to ours, which is Earth-38 to them, with no indication on Earth-1 at all. They weren’t even aware anyone had traveled across a portal, much less the Kara Danvers from these two universes swapping places.”

“What makes it so different from ours?”

Alex thinks back to what Cisco’s research had revealed. “There are a couple of things, but the biggest ones that would matter to us are the death of Lillian Luthor instead of Lionel, and at least so far, no Daxamites.”

Kara tilts her head. “How do you know about Daxam?”

“We’ve… had some run-ins.”

Lena crosses her arms against her chest. “What do we do now?”

Alex shrugs again. “Wait and see, I guess. I'm going to make sure Winn can reach Cisco. Do you want me to take you back to the DEO?” She’s speaking to Kara, but she includes Lena in her glance. 

“I think we should probably get some lunch,” Lena suggests, and Kara nods eagerly. “I can have my driver pick us up when we're done,” she adds. 

“Fine by me.” Alex returns the communication device to the small drawer in the living room. She raises her index finger toward Kara as a thought occurs to her. “We should probably get you a spare cell phone that works here. I’ll get you one this afternoon and arrange to bring it to you, or if you come back to the DEO before I go home, okay?”

“Okay,” Kara agrees. 

“Alright. Text me if you need me.” She glances at the blonde. “We’ll get you home.”

Kara nods. “Yeah. Thanks.”

When Alex has closed the apartment door behind her, Kara looks at Lena. “You said lunch?”

“I did indeed.” She pulls open the refrigerator. “I have half of a wrap left over from game night last night, but I know better than to offer that to you. It has lettuce.”

“What's wrong with the lettuce?” Kara frowns. “Is that… is that a thing on this Earth?”

Lena pauses in her search, gazing at Kara over the door of the fridge. “You like lettuce?”

“I mean, I prefer spinach, but sure,” Kara shrugs, “lettuce is okay.”

Lena stares at her for a long moment. “Do you eat vegetables?”

Kara frowns and puts her hands on her hips. “I can _literally_ eat anything on Earth. Why wouldn't I eat vegetables?”

She doesn't expect Lena’s laughter. “The Kara here, she will pick out any bit of green in her food.”

“Oh. Well, she's missing out. There's this kale and garlic thing you make that's fantastic.”

Lena shakes her head. “Kale. Right. Okay, I give up,” she sighs, closing the refrigerator door gently, “you check the cupboards and see if there's something here you want. Or we can go out. I suddenly don't trust that you’ll like what the shelves are stocked with here.”

Kara insists she's fine with anything and makes herself three ham and cheese sandwiches. Truth be told, she doesn't want to venture out in the city quite yet. That feels too much like admitting she won't be home for dinner. 

As they sit at the dining table to eat, Lena says, “So, I guess you taught me Kryptonian?” 

Kara smiles. “Yeah, you asked to learn after you found out I was from Krypton.” 

“Found out? I guessed?” 

Kara blushes and mumbles something, taking half of a sandwich in one bite to try to avoid answering. 

“What was that?” 

She swallows and sighs. “I gave myself away. We’d been dating for a month and you… you surprised me and I kind of, broke stuff.” 

Lena sits forward slightly. “I have _so_ many questions.”

Kara laughs. “I broke the counter, put my hand clear through it.” She scratches an ear and looks away. “And you, um, you might not want to know the other thing.”

Judging by the red crawling up Kara’s neck, Lena can imagine what sort of _surprise_ she’d cooked up and she feels her own face warm. “Ah. Okay.”

“After that, we talked, because it's kind of hard to try to pass broken granite off as an accident, and then you asked if I could teach you Kryptonian. You picked it up so fast.”

“I couldn't… I mean, I don't know any of it myself, but it sounds beautiful.”

Kara smiles, agreeing with the assessment. 

“Maybe… maybe you can teach me a little, if you don't mind some deja vu?”

Kara chuckles. “Not at all.”

During lunch, they go over foundations of the language and Kara jots down the Kryptonese alphabet on a piece of paper. 

“I think this will give me a fine start.” Lena collects their empty plates and takes them into the kitchen. “Thank you.”

“Sure. Listen,” Kara begins, shifting in her chair, pulling the napkin into her lap and beginning to pick at it, “I'm really sorry that I sprung the whole Supergirl thing on you. I thought you knew and I would have handled it differently and just… I guess what I'm saying is please don't be mad at your Kara. I don't want to mess things up with you two. Your friendship, I mean.”

 _My Kara._ “It’s okay. I suspected, at any rate.”

“Did she put her hand through a countertop?”

Lena smirks. “No, but she did _fly here… on a bus_.”

Kara bursts out laughing. “Rao, that’s _terrible_.”

“I called Kara one night and while we were on the phone, some men tried to attack me. Supergirl came to my rescue and when I asked her how she knew I was in trouble, she claimed that she’d been having coffee with Kara when I called.”

The blonde removes her glasses so she can properly cover her face with her hands. “And she thought she was getting away with that?”

“Well,” Lena smiles, “I wasn’t going to push her. We have… a history here, our families, and I know that can make it hard. I want her to tell me when she’s ready.”

“And now I -”

“No, it’s okay,” she insists. “We’ll still talk when she gets back. You haven’t ruined anything, I promise.”

Kara brushes the bits of napkin into her hand and deposits them into a small pile on the table. “Good." She slides her glasses back on. "Thank you for understanding, and for giving her a chance.”

Lena wrinkles her nose a little. “It’s kind of weird to talk about her like this, when it feels like I’m looking right at her.”

“Okay, subject change! Maybe you can help me with something. Who was that woman that answered the door at Alex’s?”

Lena raises her eyebrows. “Ah, Maggie…”

*****

They head back to the DEO after lunch and Alex meets them at the elevator. 

“Keep this on you,” she says, handing Kara a small cell phone. “I already programmed my number and Lena’s, okay?”

“Thanks.” Kara slips it into her pocket, relieved to have some form of communication back. “I'm, um, will you apologize to Maggie for me? I was kind of rude before, I think.”

Alex waves her hand and walks with them toward one of the many conference rooms. “Don't worry about it.” She gestures for Kara to enter. “I was hoping we could talk for a while, find out what's different on your Earth. Maybe there are some things you've encountered that we haven't and we might be able to compare notes.”

Lena hesitates. “Is that… advisable?”

Kara glances at Alex. “Is it?”

“I don't know,” she says honestly. “There's no time travel to worry about, no altering the future directly, but I feel like we should take advantage of this, of having a second Supergirl with potentially different experiences and tactics, so we can be better prepared.” She meets Kara’s conflicted gaze. “We’ll reciprocate, I promise. If you want, that is.”

After a long moment, Kara sighs. “I guess you're right. There's no reason we shouldn't share information.”

Alex taps her tablet but then blinks at Lena when she sits down next to Kara. “I know you signed a few things, but… there might be details here that you aren't cleared for.” She drums her fingers on the table. “Do you need to head back to L-Corp?”

Lena looks at the woman beside her. She’s more than willing to stay, to provide whatever support Kara needs even if it means confidentiality agreements up to her ears, but when the blonde nods, Lena grabs her purse and stands. “I'll be at the office if you need me.” She gives Alex a brief nod goodbye and walks out of the room. 

“Okay, so, we can start with -”

“Why don't you like Lena?”

“I like Lena just fine,” Alex frowns. 

“You don't trust her, then.” Kara crosses her arms over her chest. “Why not?”

Alex sighs heavily and sinks into her own chair. “I guess we can start with the Luthor family on this Earth.”

Kara listens intently, with growing concern, to the history of the Luthors, of Lillian’s malevolent influence and Lex’s violent madness and Lena’s ceaseless efforts to stand for good. “So you don't believe her.”

“I didn't at first. I do now. She's proven herself, not just through her company but personally. She's, she's saved you… my Kara, more than a few times.” Alex shrugs a little. “I was cautious for a while, especially when Kara jumped into a friendship so quickly, but I think Lena and I are on our way to becoming friends.”

“Then why did you make her leave?” Kara demands. 

“This is about classified intelligence, not friendship.” _Mostly though, there are some cases, some details of things her mother’s done that she may not know, and my sister would kill me if I just laid all that on Lena without her here to lessen the blow._

Kara shakes her head. “On my world, Lena collaborates with us. With the DEO. She isn't privy to every mission but if it involves Supergirl, she's involved. I think you're missing out on a significant contribution and plenty of improvements in tech.”

Alex bites back a grin. _Kara will stand up for Lena, no matter the universe._ “I'll consider bringing it up with J’onn.” She clears her throat. “Now, since you mentioned Supergirl missions…”

They talk for almost five hours, ultimately ordering pizza and refreshments, and Alex goes over her notes while Kara finishes the last three slices of pepperoni.

“To wrap up,” she says, and Kara slows her chewing to indicate she's paying attention, “Cadmus exists in your world but it's still just a military research facility. A little shady maybe, but without Lillian at the helm, it hasn't branched out into full anti-alien terrorism. While an anti-alien population definitely exists and has taken lives, they aren't as organized or well funded.”

Kara nods. “They still tried to take down your plane and they…” she swallows, jaw clenching, “they killed my aunt, but they haven't done some of the things you say have happened here.” She runs a hand through her hair. “Did they really try to kill all aliens with a Kryptonian virus?”

“The Medusa virus, yeah.”

Kara sucks in a breath. “I read about that at the Fortress of Solitude, so I know it was… it was created by my father but I just… I was so glad it was never used.”

“But you have been affected by the Black Mercy.”

“Yes.”

“And red Kryp-”

“Yes.” 

The answer is clipped and Alex pauses, softens, and looks up from her tablet to take in her sister’s counterpart. “I'm sorry. We can be done.”

It takes a few beats before Kara meets her gaze, dragging her eyes away from the grain and pattern of the table. “It's okay. But maybe, just… can I lead the rest of the review?”

“Go ahead.”

“Maxwell Lord created Bizarro, and we’re still trying to find some way to help her, which is the same as here.” Kara begins tangling her fingers together on her lap. “You say you've met Daxamites, but I have no idea if any of them survived after Krypton died. To the best of my knowledge, none of them have arrived to my Earth, though we have Lar-On and he's… _settling_.” She bites her lip. “He's going to be okay, I think. 

“I've fought Indigo and Reactron and the Master Jailer. You haven't encountered Nightflame.”

Alex shakes her head. “A sorceress, you said?”

“Yeah.” Kara wipes her hands on her jeans and sits up a little straighter in her chair. “Let me tell you about her abilities and a couple of tactics. In case you face her here.”

“Then we’ll call it a night.”

“I can still -”

“You can go home and get some sleep. You've helped us a great deal. I think we understand more about your world and maybe one day the information we exchanged will come in handy.” She offers her a grim smile. “Though I hope you never suffer a Daxamite invasion.”

Kara has to agree. 

*****

It's nearly eight o’clock when Kara enters her apartment. She closes the front door and then leans her forehead against it, feeling more emotionally exhausted than she has in a long time, aching to put her arms around her fiancée in their own home.

“We should be having dinner right now,” she whispers, closing her eyes. “I'm sorry, love. I'll be home as soon as I can, I swear it.”

She walks into the kitchen, a little concerned at the Kara from this world and her chosen diet. She’s a fan of sugar as much as the next girl but decides then and there that if she isn't home by the next afternoon, she's going shopping and will restock the fridge with more colors found in nature. 

She whips up a stack of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cutting them diagonally, remembering how Eliza convinced her they tasted better that way, and smiles a little as she carries the plate into the living room. 

The TV is turned on for background noise as she eats her snack and sits cross-legged on the couch. 

The credits from one show roll into another, then another, and another. 

She _is_ tired. If she were to lay down, she's pretty certain she would fall asleep. 

But, while the apartment is familiar in a nostalgic sort of way, this isn't where she sleeps anymore. She hasn't spent a night in what is, to her, her old apartment, since she and Lena had their first big fight.

She's deeply uncomfortable at the memory. 

She doesn't want to sleep here. 

Or, more accurately, she doesn't want to wake up here, to an empty bed, without _her_ Lena, feeling alone and sad and ashamed of how she'd reacted to an old argument. 

The phone buzzes in her pocket.

_How are you doing?_

It's from Lena. 

In a moment of homesickness, she replies honestly. _Not great._

_Would you like to come over?_

She's landing on the balcony of Lena’s apartment less than two minutes later.

Lena is sitting on the couch, relaxed and comfortable in a pair of dark red pajamas, glass of wine on the table, phone still in her hand, and she jumps a little when Kara taps on the balcony door.

She waves her inside and chuckles, “I guess I should have expected that.”

Kara’s posture eases minutely when she stands in the living room. “Thank you. Would you… I'm sorry if this is too much, but would you mind if I stayed the night?”

“Not at all,” Lena assures her, concerned at the immense relief that rolls across the woman’s face, giving away how anxious she'd been. “What's wrong?”

“I just, I feel better here. With you.”

 _Ah. I'm sure it feels a little lonely here, out of place with people you recognize but don't really know._ Lena gestures to a chair nearby and Kara bypasses that completely to collapse onto the cushion beside her. 

Lena hides a smirk behind a swallow from her glass. “We live together in your world?”

Kara nods. “We got a place together just after our one year anniversary.” She smiles a little. “We were practically living together for months before, though. I think… I think that’s why being back in my old apartment was hard. I haven’t slept there since we fought.”

Lena raises both eyebrows. “May I ask what we were fighting about?”

“Oh, it was…” She sinks into the cushions, sighing heavily. “I had been reporting for a while but it was the first time since we started dating that I had a big story, and I was really excited. It was an article about L-Corp. You refused. Rightly so,” Kara says quickly, wagging a finger at her past self, “because, hello, journalistic integrity and perception of bias, but I was mad about it.” 

She tries to shrink into herself as she continues. “I thought it meant you didn’t trust me to be objective, that you were doubting if I could do it. So I said something... mean… I can’t, I _won’t_ repeat it, but I walked out of our condo and stayed at my apartment for three days.”

Kara gives Lena a sheepish look. “When I finally got a hold of myself, I showed up and begged you to forgive me. You said you already had, and that you imagined I’d beat myself up about it plenty for both of us, and that you just wanted me to come home.” She rubs at her eyes, wiping away a forming tear. “I swear to Rao, I don’t deserve you.”

Lena nudges her gently. “I have a feeling I'm the lucky one in this relationship.”

Kara laughs, delighted by something. “My Lena says the same thing, we go back and forth on it all the time.” She pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “I'm glad you and your Kara are friends here, though. I would be pretty miserable if I didn't know you in this world and, well, I’d have a much tougher time with this whole portal thing if I didn't have you here, so… thank you.”

“I'm always here for you, Kara. That goes for any other Kara Danvers out there,” she chuckles, gesturing to encompass the infinite other Earths she now knows are more than a theory. “She's definitely my favorite person.”

Kara grins broadly. “Are you sure it's just friendship there?” she teases, then slaps her hand over her mouth. “Rao, I didn't mean - I'm sorry, it's honestly not my business.”

Lena blushes and shifts her shoulders. “We’re just friends,” she sighs quietly, then admits, “but I can't say I've never hoped for more.”

“Tell her that,” Kara encourages. “We don't have to keep talking about this, I know it's weird and it's absolutely not my place, but just… think about it, okay?”

“I'll try,” is all she’ll agree to, but Kara nods. 

“Good, thank you.” She covers a yawn. “Gosh, it's later than I thought, we should get some sleep.”

Lena takes her wine glass to the kitchen. “I can make up the guest bedroom for you.”

“The couch is fine.” 

Lena won't take no for an answer, so Kara climbs under the covers and falls asleep listening to the sound of Lena’s heartbeat in the next room. 

*****

When Lena and Kara arrive together at the DEO the next morning, Alex’s brow furrows with curiosity, but it clears when she remembers _this_ Kara Danvers is not her sister. 

_Though would it really be a surprise to have_ my _Kara spending more time with Lena?_ She sighs. _Nope. Not really._

They meet up at Winn’s desk, but he shakes his head. “Nothing from Cisco yet.” 

Kara grabs a chair. “So we wait?”

“Yep,” Alex sighs.

Lena finds an open seat and wheels it closer to Kara. 

An hour later, when Lena has had almost all she can take of watching Winn try to catch popcorn in his mouth or walk a coin across his fingers, she’s about to suggest a break for some food when Winn abruptly spins in his chair and reacts to a red flashing icon on his computer screen. 

“Cisco is reporting a huge quantity of exotic matter… at the DEO from Earth-23!” Winn laughs and claps his hands. “Nice! It’s like they gave us a spotlight.”

Kara shoots to her feet. “I can go home?!”

Lena stands and puts a gentle hand on her arm.

“Cisco is forming the breach now,” Winn says, and within a few moments, the blue swirling vortex whooshes into existence a few yards away. 

“Thank you. All of you.” Kara squeezes Lena’s hand and locks eyes briefly with Alex and Winn before dashing through the portal. 

She registers Lena when she steps through, _her_ Lena. Kara reaches her in a single second, pulling her close, grounding herself in the familiarity. She’s careful, always careful, not to hold her too tightly, but she can feel Lena hugging with all her might, and she buries her face in the delicate neck, inhaling the scent she knows, letting the woman’s voice wash over her.

She’s home.

* * *

“Yes! They found our beacon!”

Kara feels relief wash over her when the familiar blue portal opens a few yards in front of her. She smiles and claps Winn on the shoulder. “Great work.”

He grins at the praise. “Just glad we can get you home.”

She nods to Lena, giving her a similar warm smile, but before she can say goodbye, a form rushes through the vortex and runs directly into the woman’s arms. 

Kara is struck by the image of her counterpart wrapped in Lena’s embrace. The two are clearly overjoyed and she can hear murmurs in Kryptonian, native accent and then Lena’s answering gentle tones, and she feels several emotions form a lump in her throat at the casual conversation in her mother tongue. 

She waves once to Alex and then steps through the portal herself.

* * *

She exits into one of the storage bays at the DEO, unsurprised to see the same mix of people waiting for her. 

Alex draws her into a hug first, hard, and Kara squeezes her gently. 

“No more interdimensional travel without me.”

“Deal,” she says, and pulls back for a moment, just long enough for Winn to pounce. 

“Welcome back!”

She chuckles. “Thanks for helping bring me back. I want to hear all about it later.” 

J’onn squints a little and nods once. “Good to have you home.”

“We need to get you on a sunbed,” Alex says, grabbing her arm, but Kara shakes her head.

“I’m fine.”

“At least a scan.”

Kara glances meaningfully at the dark-haired woman standing quietly in the corner. “Can I… later, Alex? Please?” she whispers. Though she can’t read her expression and she isn’t sure how the conversation is going to go, she doesn’t want to put it off; Lena’s waited long enough for them to talk about this. 

Alex squeezes her elbow. “Alright. But a scan after.”

Everyone filters out quickly and quietly and then it's just her and Lena. 

“Hi.” Kara licks her lips. “Um, I'm glad you're here but, ah, does that mean…?”

“I know you're Supergirl, yes.”

She slouches until her ears are level with her shoulders. “I'm sorry.”

“Sorry that I know?”

“No!” Kara takes a step closer, holding out her hands. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Myself.”

Lena nods, accepting that. “Why didn't you?”

“I didn't want things to change,” she confesses. “You're my best friend and I, when I'm with you, I'm just Kara Danvers. I'm human because that's all you expect me to be.”

“I don't expect you to be anything except yourself,” Lena corrects gently, taking Kara’s hand in her own. She tugs at the hem of her sweater with the other, wondering if she should have gone a little more boardroom-power-suit instead of the casual dark jeans she’d chosen that morning. “I've suspected you were Supergirl for a while now.”

“Why didn't you say anything?” Kara’s heart is hammering. _Lena knew? She knew?! For how long? Why didn’t… I just kept feeding you those dumb excuses, god, I’m so sorry._ She’s worried her palms are beginning to sweat. 

“I wasn't going to push you. I knew you had your reasons.” _There are plenty._ “Not least of all, who I am.” She begins to pull her hand away, wanting to retreat in on herself as she usually did, when her heritage reared its head into her life once more, destroying yet another friendship, another relationship she thought was her own. 

“Who you - _no_.” Kara speaks firmly. She tangles her fingers with Lena’s, gentle, in case she doesn't want the contact, but Lena tightens the grip. “You aren't _just another Luthor_ , it was never about your name. I just… I was afraid. I didn't want to lose what we had.”

“You won't lose me, Kara.” _There's no way._ When Kara doesn't say anything for a few moments, Lena whispers, “I'm glad you're back.”

“Me, too. I missed you.” She clears her throat, adjusts her glasses with her free hand. “Did you, um, learn about what it was like on the other Earth?”

“A little. You, I mean, the other Kara, she told me some.”

“About?”

“Lex.”

Kara squeezes her hand and wonders how much to tell her. 

“Did you… did you see him there?” It’s a whisper at first, but she repeats herself, voice a little shaky but louder, and she lifts her head to meet Kara’s gaze. 

Kara nods. _So. Everything._ “That world’s Lena and I had dinner together, with Lex and your father. He joked around and they both seemed very happy. He, um, Lex had a son, there.”

Lena feels the tears well and knows there's no stopping them. “I'm an aunt?”

“That Lena is taking him on some sort of science trip in a few weeks.” Kara is careful to maintain the distinction between this Lena and her doppleganger. “And Lionel really seems to dote on his grandson.”

“At least there's some universe out there where we’re happy.” It takes a split second before Lena realizes what she's said. “I didn't mean - I didn't mean I'm not happy here.”

Kara shakes her head. “It's okay. I understand. Last year, here, this world, I mean, my aunt died, only a few months after I realized she was alive and on Earth. In that other world, my aunt knew me and my cousin for years… and she still died.” She focuses on Lena, rubbing her thumb across the delicate knuckles. “I know it's not even real, not for me, but I feel like I missed out on those years together. 

“And during dinner, I just kept thinking that _this_ was the Lex you knew, _this_ was your brother. It's okay to miss that.”

Kara draws her close and wraps her arms around her when Lena blinks away tears. 

Lena sighs and sinks into the hold. It’s similar to when the other Kara had pulled her in, and, of course, the women are essentially an exact match physically, but this time seems _more_ , somehow. She can sense the warmth, the comfort, the near desperation to erase the pain, the _need_ to protect, and she lets herself soak it all up, cementing that this is _her_ Kara. 

“I'm sorry,” Kara whispers, fierce and pained. “I'm sorry this… I got you wrapped up in this and you're hurting.”

Lena shakes her head, still in the warm embrace. “This wasn't your fault.” She sighs, stepping back once to put some space between them, tucking a few stray hairs behind her ear. “And it must have been difficult for you, too.”

Kara tries not to dwell on those moments. “I'm happy they're together again.” The words are soft, on an exhale. 

“Me, too.” Lena smiles a little, remembering. “The other Kara seemed quite… _adrift_.”

“I probably wasn't any better,” Kara chuckles. “I have experience in interdimensional travel, at least, but everything else was so different. What about for you?”

“Well,” Lena teases gently, “I can admit having that world’s Kara come into my office and casually drop that you're Supergirl was topped only by the insistence that we were engaged.”

Kara blushes, rocking back on her heels, hands in and then out of her pockets, as though she can’t decide what to do with them. “You know, we… it isn't like time travel. That wasn't a glimpse of the future.”

Lena considers that. “As in, it isn't a guarantee of what's to come.” She nods, as if to herself. “Just because we’re together in one universe doesn't mean we have to be in this one.”

“Right.” Kara swallows, trying to get past the lump in her throat, grasping at the last bits of confidence. She lifts her gaze to meet Lena’s. “But, what if… what if it means that we always find each other?”

Lena stares at her, green eyes slightly wide, heart racing in Kara’s ears.

“What if we try? Would you… would you like to go out to dinner?” She gives her a timid smile, hands shoved into her pockets again.

Lena looks a little scared. Nervous, Kara expects that, _she's_ so nervous she worries about beginning to float, but fear? She's watching Kara as though she's waiting for something. 

“No dinner?” Kara tries, “Maybe just coffee then? Doesn't have to be today, even, what about next week? Whenever you’d like.” 

Lena’s heartbeat hasn't slowed any and Kara’s stomach fills with lead. She's heard that saying before but now is the first moment it's made sense, her gut heavy with despair. 

“Oh, I didn't… I assumed, I'm sorry.” Her hand flutters about her face, shifting her glasses. She begins to walk backwards. “You're right. Just because one universe, we’re… it doesn't have to mean anything in this one. I was wrong to think just because the other -”

“No, wait. Wait.” Lena grabs at her hand and Kara stands in place. “I was… I'm sorry, yes, I would love to go to dinner with you.” Her heart rate eases down to a more acceptable level. “You surprised me. I didn't know you were interested and… I was worried you might just be doing this because now you feel like you have to.”

“I have never had to force myself to feel anything when I'm with you,” Kara admits. “It’s all just… _there_. The first time I met you,” she smiles bashfully at the memory, “I was prepared to be on edge and wary and then Clark and I walked up to you and you started talking and I just couldn't find that suspicion anymore.” She shrugs with one shoulder. “I trusted you and I believed you wanted to make a change for the better and I wanted nothing more than to help you succeed in whatever way I could.”

Lena intertwines their fingers and can't help the small quirk of her lips as Kara visibly relaxes at the connection. “What's your preference for dinner? Out to eat somewhere or ordering in, given the long few days you've had?”

“Would it be weird if I asked to order delivery at your place?”

“Not at all.” Lena smiles. “Let's go.”

*****

There was a freedom that first night. An easy connection, flowing conversation, granted by an honesty never afforded them before, with no secrets, no lies of necessity. There were no confessions of love, but both knew the feeling was there. 

They talked about each of their experiences over the previous thirty hours. Tears were shed for what could have been, but there was laughter too, and a hope for what might yet be… and they finished the night by sharing a pint of ice cream, which was a definite win in Kara’s book.

Kara promised a second date, a _real one_ although Lena insisted ordering Chinese and spending hours together still counted.

When Kara escorted Lena into her apartment and they said good night after that real second date, they kissed. 

Just once, soft and full of promise, with Kara cradling Lena’s face in her hands. 

Kara dove off the balcony and Lena heard her whoop with joy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never realize how much I use italics until it comes time to format for AO3.
> 
> Kryptonian - _voiai_ is the feminine adjective "all right / safe"


	3. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing but fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna lie. This epilogue is 99% an excuse for fluff.

EARTH-38, ONE YEAR LATER

Kara moves her arms quickly, shaking her hands and flexing her fingers, trying to calm her nerves. “I can do this,” she tells herself firmly, “I can do this.”

“You can totally do this,” Alex agrees, reclining on her sofa, watching her sister pace back and forth. She’d been on the edge of her seat for the first half hour, speaking heartfelt encouragement and support, but when it became clear Kara was just going to keep freaking out, the redhead settled back and got comfortable. 

“This is the right thing to do.”

“Definitely.”

She spins on her heel, heading in the other direction. “It’s the right time, right?”

“Well,” Alex checks her watch, “seven-thirty sounds good to me.”

“It’s seven-thirty?!” It’s more of a shout than she intended and Kara winces, lowering her voice. “How is it seven-thirty already?”

“You’ve been putting a hole in my floor for the past two hours.” She props her feet up on the coffee table and shakes her finger at the Kryptonian. “And I’m _not_ going to be able to use the excuse of ‘poor structural integrity’ on the downstairs neighbors for a third time, so stop pacing before you _actually_ put a hole in my floor. Again.”

“Rao.” Kara runs her hands through her hair. “I can do this.”

“Not if you don’t leave my apartment.”

“Okay, yeah, you’re right. I have to change. Oh man, I can’t be late.” Her eyes are wide as she stares at her sister. “Alex, I can’t be late!”

“Then go!”

“Right.” Kara rushes out the door but before Alex can sit down again, the blonde flies through the window and lands back in the living room. “Alex, tell me I can do this.”

Alex gets to her feet. “Oh my god, Kara, just _go_!”

“Yeah, okay. Okay. I’m going.”

She jumps out the window. 

After a moment, Maggie peeks her head around the corner, blinking at Alex. “Is it safe now?”

Alex sighs and shakes her head. “If she doesn’t implode the moment she sees Lena, it will be a miracle.” 

*****

Kara doesn’t implode when she sees Lena. 

But it’s a close call. 

The woman is wearing a form-fitting strapless black dress with a plunging neckline and heels high enough to put her even with her girlfriend. 

Her girlfriend who chokes on air for about two seconds when Lena opens the door. 

Kara stammers her way through a greeting. “Hi, you’re, um, wow, that’s, ah, an amazing, _amazing_ dress. You look amazing. Did I say that already?”

Lena blushes despite herself, inordinately pleased at the compliment, and as she ducks her head for a moment, dark hair brushes against her shoulders and Kara’s jaw drops. 

“You never wear your hair down.” It takes two tries for the sentence to emerge. 

“I thought,” Lena pauses for a moment, “I thought you might like it if I did, but I can -”

Kara darts forward and tangles her hands there, kissing Lena thoroughly. “I like,” she murmurs, “definitely.”

“Darling,” Lena speaks between kisses, “we’re going to be late,” she shifts her hands to the buttons of Kara’s dress shirt, “unless you want to just cancel dinner.”

“No, I want, this dinner.” Kara whimpers in protest nonetheless when the kisses slow. “But, you know, just to confirm, you are the most beautiful woman in the galaxy.”

Lena smiles and reaches up to fix Kara’s collar. She’s realized while her girlfriend is beautiful in anything she wears, Lena herself is a fan of Kara in tailored button-up dress shirts and fitted slacks, usually in a darker color scheme than she chose to wear at Catco, and the occasions she added a skinny tie? Consider Lena truly smitten. 

“Well, I’d argue with you about that, but let’s go show each other off instead, shall we?”

Kara grins proudly. “Yes. Let’s.”

*****

Kara is terrible at keeping secrets. 

Lena isn't one to get her hopes up, but Kara is terrible at keeping secrets, and Kara has been dropping none-too-subtle hints for the past month about “needing more room” and “hey this great place just went up for sale” and Lena remembers their dopplegangers on Earth-23 began living together about a year into their relationship. 

Lena and Kara on this world just celebrated their first anniversary three weeks ago. Kara is practically living at Lena’s apartment and has been for about four months, regularly leaving from there for work or Supergirl emergencies, she has a spare Supergirl suit in the closet, and Lena would be lying if she said that didn’t make her heart skip a beat every time she sees it hanging there, at the explicit trust the gesture conveys. 

But Kara still spends occasional nights at her own apartment and they aren’t officially living together yet. 

And this feels like an important dinner. 

So while Lena isn't a woman to get her hopes up, she finds herself holding her breath every time Kara pauses and meets her gaze, significant moments, she thinks, and wondering if _that's_ going to be when Kara asks her to move in. 

There are many potential meaningful pauses.

But Kara never asks. 

Dinner ends and it was lovely and Lena scolds herself for letting her daydreams get ahead of reality. 

She knows Kara loves her. 

She _knows_. They've been saying the words for the past few months, and she thought they might start sounding a little tired or trite, the same three words over and over, but the thrill never fades. 

Still, she says, “I love you,” as Kara holds her hand and they walk two blocks over to a small park. It’s still warm enough, even after the sun has gone down, that she’s comfortable in the dress, but the seasons will change in a few weeks and she’ll have to remember to bring a wrap if Kara wants more walks in the park. Lena removes her heels when they reach the grass, putting her several inches shorter than Kara now, her more usual perspective. She takes the opportunity to turn her head and easily kiss the woman’s broad shoulder. 

“I love you, too.” Kara smiles and Lena thinks she feels the same sort of solid joy in the center of her chest. “Did you enjoy dinner?”

“I did,” Lena says, but then adds, “what about you? You seemed a little quiet.”

“Oh.” Kara uses her free hand to settle her glasses a few times. “I’m just, you know, thinking. But dinner was great.” She tries to shift her nerves into something more charming. “You in candlelight? My new favorite thing.”

Lena laughs softly, shaking her head. “What’s on your mind, darling?”

Kara blinks with wide eyes. “Why would you, nothing, why do you, um, why do you ask?” Lena raises an eyebrow sharply and Kara goes back over the last few seconds. “Oh, right, because I said… yeah. Okay.”

“Kara, is something wr-”

“No, no, nothing is wrong. Gosh, I’m so nervous. No, you didn’t hear that, dang it. Okay.” Kara nods decisively and stops her muttering, relinquishing her hand from Lena’s hold. “So, I’ve been thinking… more like wondering, you know, what our counterparts on Earth-23 are doing,” she says, walking backwards slowly, leading Lena along with her. “I know we have completely different lives, but I think about them a lot, hoping they’re happy in that world, because they’re together. That part I don’t doubt.” 

Kara glances over her shoulder, checking her direction, and continues moving. Lena follows, heart beating hopefully again, and she pays little attention to where Kara is leading them. 

“I know it might seem like we’re doing things the way they did, what with, well, dating now, and you learning Kryptonian, but it’s… I want those things with you. I’m not trying to recreate what they had or anything. This is all ours.”

Lena nods in agreement. 

“So, I want… I want you to know that this is from _me_.” Kara’s steps slow and she comes to a stop. “I’ve been thinking about this for months and I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything else and just, it’s all because of _you_ , you, my Lena, right here.”

Lena begins to smile in anticipation, reaching for Kara’s hand. “I believe you, sweetheart.”

“I was going to ask you at dinner, but then I thought this might be a better spot,” and Lena realizes two things simultaneously: one, this is the exact place they’d walked to after dinner on their second date (first _real date_ , according to Kara), and two, Kara is no longer standing. 

She’s kneeling. 

Lena’s hope soars. 

“Lena Luthor,” she begins, “I love you, for all that you are. You have saved this world more than a few times, but you save me every day. Waking up to you every morning is my greatest joy and, oh, this is all out of order, _Rao_ …” She licks her lips, trying to find her place in the words she’d been memorizing for weeks, but they’re all flying out of reach at the gathering tears in the green eyes of the woman she loves. “I love you. I will always love you. I will always protect you, and support you, and I would really, really love the chance to show you that every day for the rest of our lives.” Kara pulls a dark green ring box from the pocket of her slacks and opens the lid, revealing a single carat cushion cut diamond. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes.” The word is thick with tears and her smile is wet, and then she’s crying when Kara slips the ring over her finger, and she wraps her arms around her ~~girlfriend~~ fiancée, feeling the nervous excitement buzzing beneath the surface there, happy laughter bubbling through the tears. Kara is whispering Kryptonian and Lena focuses. “What is _zrhymin_?” she asks, picking up on the unfamiliar word. 

“Spouse,” Kara translates. She pulls Lena’s left hand to her lips, kissing her knuckles. “You said yes.”

“I did,” Lena smiles, as though she can hardly believe she’s not dreaming. 

They slowly wind their way through the park once more, kissing often, and Lena thinks this must be the definition of the emotion _giddy_. 

“To be honest,” Lena says, and she can’t stop pressing her thumb against the new bit of jewelry on her hand, “I thought you were going to ask for us to move in together.”

Kara laughs. “I thought we were already living together.” She nuzzles Lena’s ear gently. “I was thinking this might be a long engagement, maybe, and we could find a place before the wedding. Oh! I mean, if you don’t want that, we can do -”

Lena silences her with a warm kiss and Kara melts. “That sounds great, love.”

* * *

“Oh, they’re so sweet.” The woman peers through the blue portal, smiling at the couple as they walk hand-in-hand. “Engaged now, too! Aren’t you happy?”

The man rolls his eyes, waving his hand and closing the view. “No.” 

The brunette tugs on his arm playfully. “But we owed it to them - well, the blonde one, at least.” She kisses him gently. “If she wouldn’t have refused you, we’d have never met.”

He sighs. “We _trick_ the humans, we don’t _help_ them.”

“They would have ended up together eventually,” she’s sure of that, “but when I found that Earth so similar to theirs, I just had to show them what was right in front of them.” The woman snaps her fingers and suddenly the man is in a dashing tuxedo. “And because I have a wonderful husband, the _best_ husband,” she pulls him around the room and he follows easily, losing his snark at her honest excitement, “who helped me send them through the transdimensional portal, now they get to be as happy as we are.”

“No one is as happy as we are,” he insists, filling the room with flowers in a split-second, “Mrs. Mxyzptlk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic was written from 26 August 2017 - 24 January 2018. The title is from _Written in the Sand_ by Old Dominion.
> 
> As always, you can find me on [tumblr](http://y02mustang.tumblr.com/)!

**Author's Note:**

> I binge watched the first two seasons of the Flash so I tried to get some of the terminology and references correct, but I'm sure I messed up a few things.


End file.
